TOPIC

topic, subject, issue, matter

(noun) some situation or event that is thought about; “he kept drifting off the topic”; “he had been thinking about the subject for several years”; “it is a matter for the police”

subject, topic, theme

(noun) the subject matter of a conversation or discussion; “he didn’t want to discuss that subject”; “it was a very sensitive topic”; “his letters were always on the theme of love”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

topic

topical

Noun

topic (plural topics)

Subject; theme; a category or general area of interest.

(Internet) Discussion thread.

(music) A musical sign intended to suggest a particular style or genre.

(obsolete) An argument or reason.

(obsolete, medicine) An external local application or remedy, such as a plaster, a blister, etc.

Synonyms

• (area of interest): subject, subject area

Anagrams

• cop it, optic, picot

Source: Wiktionary


Top"ic, n. Etym: [F. topiques, pl., L. topica the title of a work of Aristotle, Gr. topika`, fr. topiko`s of or for place, concerning to`poi, or commonplaces, fr. to`pos a place.] (a) One of the various general forms of argument employed in probable as distinguished from demonstrative reasoning, -- denominated by Aristotle to`poi (literally, places), as being the places or sources from which arguments may be derived, or to which they may be referred; also, a prepared form of argument, applicable to a great variety of cases, with a supply of which the ancient rhetoricians and orators provided themselves; a commonplace of argument or oratory. (b) pl.

Definition: A treatise on forms of argument; a system or scheme of forms or commonplaces of argument or oratory; as, the Topics of Aristotle. These topics, or loci, were no other than general ideas applicable to a great many different subjects, which the orator was directed to consult. Blair. In this question by [reason] I do not mean a distinct topic, but a transcendent that runs through all topics. Jer. Taylor.

2. An argument or reason. [Obs.] Contumacious persons, who are not to be fixed by any principles, whom no topics can work upon. Bp. Wilkins.

3. The subject of any distinct portion of a discourse, or argument, or literary composition; also, the general or main subject of the whole; a matter treated of; a subject, as of conversation or of thought; a matter; a point; a head.

4. (Med.)

Definition: An external local application or remedy, as a plaster, a blister, etc. [Obsoles.] Wiseman.

Top"ic, a.

Definition: Topical. Drayton. Holland.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 November 2024

THEORETICAL

(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”


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Coffee Trivia

In 1511, leaders in Mecca believed coffee stimulated radical thinking and outlawed the drink. In 1524, the leaders overturned that order, and people could drink coffee again.

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